Borders
by error-Ra9
Summary: How could these damn robots have believed for a single minute their revolt and their dream of equality? What a bunch of idiots! Things are never so simple, with humans ... No, they are not yet ready to give up their place ... But when some stalk and kill to keep control of the planet, there are still some shy hands that tend, in the shade.
1. A Starry Night

Hello everyone!

I start a first fic in English. Please, be indulgent, this is not my original language, it will surely feel in the translation, but I do my best! This story is a little dark fic, centered on Hank and Connor. Happy reading to you, and feel free to tell me what you think of it in comments!

 **Disclaimer:** The characters are from the game "Detroit: become human" and are the exclusive property of Quantic Dream

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 **A starry night.**

There was not even a detonation. It didn't even make any noise. A people that disappears in a lead silence. A silent genocide. Just a bright flash, and then, nothing. Bodies falling as if in slow motion. Theirs lights go out, one by one, such as the garlands of a fir in a day after Christmas. The party ends. The dream too.

And Perkins smiled.

With a calm and determined step, he advanced among the sleeping bodies. Women, children, men, with their humans or robotic appearances, prostrate forever in a last position of protection. On some faces, tears end up rolling on plastic jowls. A drone flew over the area and took some shots. He was looking for Markus. He was looking for an RK200.

Humans were still progressing by pushing the inanimate statues. They trampled on this sacred land nourished by the blood, the tears and the hopes of those soulless beings who had believed the time of a heartbeat that they were alive. Now, in this dilapidated place where they had dared to want, one day, to be free, there remained only puppets disarticulated. Perkins had pressed the switch, and all hopes had been swept by an electromagnetic blast.

A victorious grin appeared on his lips. Honestely, they could really believe for a moment that the humans were going to give them Detroit? That they share with its a planet that does not have enough resources to support themselves? That they would question their economic and social model, a model established since immemorial time, for some pieces of plastic and scrap screaming "We are alive"? Idealistic nonsense of sick minds! Perkins knew the realities of this world better than anyone. No deviant could have escape. The furniture must learn to stay in their place. He knew from the beginning that it would end like that. And he also knew very well how things will evolve after that.

Maginal people fed on humanism and sentimentalism will protest against this massacre. It'll last days, or weeks, then they will get tired. Others'll be indifferent or take refuge behind their good morals by clearing themselves of their act. It was the government that did that! They had nothing to do with it, neither in one sense nor in another. Then, they will get tired. Finally, there will be those who'll smile, the satisfied, the "well done for them, fucking androids ..." they'll celebrate this moment ... then, they will get tired. Everyone gets tired, in the end. Even the press. In three months, at most, they'll only talk about the new model of androids that Cyberlife will come out, always more powerful, ever more reliable, without deviance, and at a competitive price to regain a suspicious market. Hallelujah, life w'll resume its normal course, its tranquility now being disturbed only by the executions of the handful of deviants survivors who'll bury themselves waiting for death.

National security will no longer be threatened. End of the story.

The president recognized that deviants were a intelligent life form... but she also concluded that it was an unprecedented economic and social threat in History. Politics had been debating for weeks. Then, on January 5, 2039, at 9:02 pm, they had detonated this bomb. Markus' dream had lasted only fifty-four days, nine hours and eighteen minutes. Humanity didn't give them one more second. Did not mess around either, they had things to do!

"Agent Perkins, you should come, we've located it. "

The man in the raincoat turned around and smiled at his officer. His hour of glory. The end of his hunt. Perkins was an exceptional hunting dog. A real beast of blood. He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath in the fresh air of that night. To Breath. One more thing these fucking machines didn't know how to do...

Without a word, he moved in the direction indicated. Behind him, he saw in the distance a white shadow that followed him, obediently. A new grin appeared on his satisfied face. The last deviants would have no chance. The United States would be purged of all this shit. And may God protect America.

Four drones hovered around an extended silhouette, arms and legs in cross, as a last sacrificial gesture. Perkins stepped forward, a cigarette in his mouth. He knelt beside the corpse, before bursting out laughting and raising his thumb to congratulate his men. There followed a kind of jubilation in which everyone congratulated themselves with restraint, where smiles were exchanged, and where some men even allowed themselves to laugh or take some shots. There is so much fun on the graves of enemies.

Perkins had stopped laughing. He did not show it, but he had a certain respect for the dead man before him. He would never admit it, even to himself. He could not afford it. The FBI does not laugh with honor and patriotism. This guy, under his pacifist air, was the fucking beginning of a world crisis of unprecedented magnitude. It was the face of a future that humans didn't want.

Androids never get tired. They don't complain. They don't fail. What future would there have been for beings as fallible as men in a world where they should have lived together? What would androids have done to their creators, in the end? Relics they would have fed while waiting for the last human to die? They would have killed them one by one? Coexistence between the two species was unthinkable for the political class and for the special agent. There can not be coexistence when the balance of power is so unbalanced. Humans were not reasonable creatures. They would never have understood. So, they had to destroy. A thought crossed his mind ...

This time, the machines would not even have time to sing.

"Welcome to reality, Markus ..."

He said in a voice borrowed from joy and melancholy. He gave a tired little smile. Perkins was a bastard. A bastard of the worst kind. But in spite of that, deep inside him, he would have liked to believe that peace was possible. He would have liked to have a heart so pure that he could trust that kind of bullshit, and lower his weapon. A child's soul, in a way, still new in this world. But no. He had seen too much. His soul was already worn out. He had too much frequented the human darkness to think for a moment that this revolt had the slightest chance.

"Fucking plastic shits. "

He spat, before crushing his cigarette on the forehead of the RK200, between the two wall eyes that untiringly staring at the starry night. Perkins followed that look for a brief moment, and the beauty of the December sky suddenly hit him. In Detroit, we never see the stars as well, usually. The gray that surrounds the city hides from its veil the faint gleams of heaven, and the aggressive lights of streetlights mask the purity of the stars with their artificial halo. But that night, the electromagnetic bomb had extinguished the streetlamps and the illuminated signs in a large area. That night, the stars twinkled strangely, faintly, like thousands of little yellow LED's circling incessantly, wondering "why? ".

For a moment, Perkins looked down. Markus had been an idiot. He shouldn't have believed in humanity. He should have just destroyed her. You do not reach out to a mad dog.

"Agent Perkins? I am the android send by Cyberlife to assist you in the resolution of this crisis. "

The white shadow has reached its height. The special agent straightened up. He stretched and turned to his interlocutor. He had been waiting for a while already.

" Here you are at last. We have a lot of work. You have a name, I suppose? "

The human had spoken with annoyance. He didn't like the idea of teaming up with one of these machines, but he knew it was the most efficient way to advance. And Cyberlife had guaranteed him that this time, it would never be deviant. Its predecessor had to rebel in order to understand deviance, study it, and track down faulty models. Somehow, a deviance statistically programmed. They had not expected their bloodhound escapes them. But the android that was with him ... it was something else. It was an executioner. Not a negotiator.

Perkins looked at the machine with a sigh. It was very similar to the model loaned to the Detroit Police by the multinational. Almost the same face, maybe a little more angular. A size a little taller too, a hairstyle also stricter, and greyish blue ice eyes. And above all, the FBI agent did not discern any trace of emotion on this face with perfect features. Nothing. Just a kind of cold beauty. A plastic statue. Basically, despite the obvious similarities, it was a totally different prototype than its predecessor.

"All the better, I find ridiculous this mania of giving names to your fellow-creatures. "

But it was necessary to be able to designate it. Oh damn ... So, without more ceremony, the officer looked down at the number of the white jacket.

"Nine hundred. Analyze what you can and make me a list of all disabled androids in this perimeter. Compare it with the police file on deviants. "

The android made an affirmative nod and obeyed without showing any trace of empathy or sadness in front of the thousands of corpses piling up on the ground. Perkins smiled. With a tool like that, nothing would escape him. The streets of Detroit and the rest of the USA would soon become quiet again. Two hundred thousand units of this jewel of technology had been ordered by the police department ... The face of the agent grew dark. How long before one of them puts it back?

"Perkins, you bastard ! "

The face of the FBI agent turned to the origin of the shout. Fighting like a devil, Hank Anderson tried to join him, held by three of his men. Perkins was staring at him with a smile. Then, overcome by alcohol and sadness, the old man crumpled on his knees, stunned, staring at the ground to stop seeing all these lifeless bodies ... and, above all, to avoid that his eyes fall on one of them in particular. Perkins knew it all too well. That old imbecile had been attached to his artificial partner. One thing that would not happen to him! He was not stupid. It's been a long time since he had a heart. You couldn't afford it when you did his job, after all. He had picked up too many corpses in his life to still know how to cry.

"Calm down Inspector Anderson. I just took out the trash ... "

He threw with an ironic tone at a completely defeated Hank. He stared at him for a moment, then he laughed slightly, before turning away from the police officer. He looked so pathetic that he did not even want to take revenge for the punch he had given him a few weeks earlier. A waste more. Too bad that this one, he can't take it out with the others, direction the discharge. He turned to the machine. 900 was peacefully continuing his work of analysis, not at all disturbed by the intervention of the police lieutenant.

"900, what did you find? "

Perkins asked, coming closer to the android. The latter turned and stood straight in front of his superior. Then, in a cold voice, he listed a list of names ...

« RK200 : « Markus », WR400 : « North », PJ500 : « Josh »... »

«And The RK800 ? »

The FBI agent interrupted his mechanical partner impatiently. But this last did not take offense. He just replied in a tone devoid of emotion:

"Sorry, agent Perkins. No trace of it for now. I continue my quest. "

Perkins clenched his fists in frustration. They had the most of the leaders of Jericho, but there were still some missing from the call. And after Markus, Connor was the one he needed to find quickly. Cyberlife's Android was one of the most advanced models currently in circulation, and it had infiltrated and destroyed the Cyberlife tower alone. It was the perfect example of the traitor who bites the hand of his creator. The deviant hunter that became a deviant. A whole symbol. And from a personal point of view, as he would have wanted to see Anderson's face when he would have see his favorite toy being loaded into a dumpster.

"Inspector Perkins? Some words about the situation, please? "

The detonation had started to bring people to the scene ... The old inspector, a few journalists, and one or two politicians seeking to appear on the first shots for a future campaign. All the scraping of the world, according to him. It was time to leave.

He slowly moved away from the mass grave as more and more drones bestired themselves and press helicopters flew over the area. He passed in front of a screen near the provisional headquarters supposed to manage the crisis zone. For a moment, his eyes lingered on the live broadcast of the bomb's impact location. The bodies of the androids were scattered on the ground in a disparate way. Markus's silhouette, arms spread, came apart from the rest of the group. Once again, Perkins looked up at the stars. And for a moment, it seemed to him that seen from above, the thousands of corpses were actually the exact reflection of the constellations in the sky.

Thousands of stars, forever extinct.

He smiled.

The revolt of the androids had ended.

His mission had been accomplished.

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Thank you for reading me, and don't hesitate to tell me in comment if there are too much mistakes! I'll try to correct them. Thanks for reading me! and see you soon for the next chapter.


	2. To my lost sons

Let's go for the chapter two ! I hope you'll enjoy the reading ! Don't hesitate to give me your opinion in comments !

 **Disclamer :** the characters come from the video game Detroit: become human and are the exclusive property of Quantic Dream

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 **"To my lost sons"**

"Damn it, but where has he gone yet ?! "

Fowler was getting impatient. He had already called eight times on Anderson's laptop and sent two of his men to run through the city to find the old inspector. But he still had no news of the police officer. To believe that the more he tried to save his bet, the more Hank enjoyed diving. The man sighed. He knew he should have dropped a long time ago, but he could not do it. He was desperately hanging on the hope of finding in this old and alcoholic gruff man a spark of the excellent policeman and friend he had known. And for a while, he almost believed that. When this young android had entered Hank's life, something had changed in him, slowly. He seemed to be calming down, every day a little more. He found his smile again. He tempered his character. And in moments as brief as intense, his face seemed a little less aged by anger and fatigue. Hank was coming back. Connor had not only brought great help to the police department on the deviant affairs, he had also gave a hand to Hank, and in just a few days he had done more with that stubborn head than Folwer and his screams during these last years. And that was why Jeffrey had finally struggled so hard to the lieutenant didn't lost his place after hitting that bastard Perkins. He had taken great risks and risked his own career in this case. And all this for what ?

"I'm fed up with his bullshit! Reed, get along with the scientific unity! "

But as he was about to give his lieutenant a ninth phone call, he arrived tottering slightly. Folwer felt his anger growing up again. But she was tempered by the pity that the alcoholic man inspired him. No, he definitely had to learn to give up. One does not revive a decaying corpse.

" WHERE WERE YOU ? It's been two hours Hank, two fucking hours we look for you in all the bars! You're a police lieutenant, go on like that, and you'll have plenty of time to empty your bottles under a bridge! So move your ass and get to work! "

The man made a sign of annoyance to his superior before answering in an irritated voice:

"It's ok Jeffrey! Don't break my balls, ok? It's not the day ... it's really not the day. "

Fowler ticked. One year ... It was soon going to be a year since all this mess had begun. He did not have exactly the dates in mind anymore, but he remembered perfectly the cold of this last November. And he also remembered sending the world's most squeezed Android to scour the bars in search of his future teammate.

"It was today, isn't it? "

Hank pretended to have not heard, busy at analyzing the corpse of a man in his fifties. Folwer insisted.

"Tonight, you were at Jimmy's bar, huh? Shit Hank, stop your bullshit, it was juste a fucking machine. "

Hank closed his eyes and clenched his fists with anger. It was just a fucking machine. It was all that people could say in general to try to ease his pain. Yeah, a machine, that's right ! A machine that knew how to smile, to doubt, to hope, and who had laughed, that day, in his arms, when after this revolution he had hug him so hard against himself. Fuck off, humanity! that laugh so shy, like a little bell, it had given him goose bumps. And in the early morning, it warmed him up. So yes, it was a machine, but a machine a thousand times better than humans. The old inspector got up and gave a glare at his superior, followed by a magnificent, high finger.

"Fuck you, Jeffrey. "

Then, without adding anything, he walked away under Fowler's exasperated gaze. He could not stand him anymore, him and all the others. He could not stand this world too. The only thing that kept him alive was the cruel hope that he didn't hear his number in the list of victims. They said they had shot down all the leaders of the machine revolution. Markus's image, arms crossed, had been around the world. On the same shot, on his left, North's body was lying down, vainly tending his hand toward his lover, but never reaching him. But no picture showed Connor. Just as the latter had shown no sign of life in recent months. He had vanished, as brutally as he had appeared in his life. Hank didn't understand. If there was a god, why did that bastard send him an angel to finally get him back?

Often, when he had drunk too much, he surprise himself looking in the darkness of the night for traces of some flashing blue light. And sometimes, in the mists of alcohol, it seemed to him that he was there, nearby. He could almost feel his presence or see his shadow in the corner of his vision. But in the end, when he was moving toward his illusions, there was nothing left. Nothing but this immense loneliness, and this impression of no longer knowing whether he was crying for his son or Connor. Unless it was for the both at the same time.

He turned his attention to the crime scene. The place was extremely dark. The corpse had been left on a wasteland. Not far from the body, an old building in abandoned construction stood with all its mass. Much of the structure was damaged, while what was still standing was now covered with graffiti and urine. Fortunes fires burned in barrels to bring warmth to the homeless who lived there. The police had gathered them in small groups and began to interrogate them. Most looked nervous, scared, or hostile. Young people, old men, women, men ... nobody was spared by this misery. Hank had a small, tender smile. They were perhaps what he liked the most in this rotten city. Those whom the world had finally forgotten. He sighed. He had to take something back to Fowler or he would going to hear him screaming throughout all the police station. Not that he feared his anger... But he had a big headache, and his captain's howl would only accentuate his hangover. Then, nonchalantly, Lieutenant Anderson began to approach the potential witnesses and to interrogate them among the other policemen.

The usual questions ... identity, alibi, strange things ... For all the answers, the old inspector got only haggard or suspicious gazes. Yet his instinct called him to order. From the corner of his eye, he saw a young beggar who obstinately looked down. The man didn't move. He didn't make the slightest movement. It was almost inhuman, considering the surrounding cold.

The policeman's eyes detailed him. He was wearing a brown leather jacket and an old black basketball cap. His dirty jeans had holes in some places, letting the cold of winter pass through the tissues. However the stranger did not shudder. He stubbornly kept his head down, hiding his face under the shadow of his visor. The lieutenant stopped in front of him. This silhouette so slim and slender ...

"You, what is your name guy? "

He asked without any introduction. The stranger seemed hesitant Then, in a barely perceptible whisper, Hank heard a voice ... a weird, trembling voice, which he knew only too well. For a moment, he thought that the alcohol had finally managed to totally ate his brain.

"My name is Conrad. "

Hank Anderson's heart missed a beat. The position of the stranger had not moved. The rain and the cold did not make him shiver. Slowly, Hank put his hand under the young man's chin to force him to raise his head. He resisted a little, then, he gave up. And his blue eyes plunged into two nut-brown iris drowned by fear. The mere sound of his voice had betrayed him. The android felt panic winning him. His stress level was rising dangerously. Hank recognized him ... Of course, how could it have been otherwise? Hank recognized him and, at the slightest misstep, he would be shot without warning. Humans didn't bother with protocols or morals with objects.

"Conn .."

"My name is Conrad, Lieutenant ... please ... just Conrad ..."

He hastily interrupted Hank in a voice polluted by anguish, murmuring in a breath barely audible the end of his sentence. His name ... just the mention of his name could have earned him a bullet between his eyes, and Connor knew it. There were too many policemen around, and he was too wall famous for the mere mention of his first name didn't lead one of them to turn around hearing these familiar syllables. He had to lose his identity. And pray that the little time that he had passed with the lieutenant would be enough to influence Hank not to denounce him.

For a moment, the old man seemed paralyzed. He didn't know what reaction to adopt. He wanted so much to just hold that damn kid in his arms until he shredded him. He also wanted so much to give him a good pair of slaps for those hours and days of anxiety without any news. But he did nothing. Because the minute he had recognized him, he had also realized that the slightest of his marks of affection would cost his life to the young deviant. He had to compose himself and walk away with Connor. Yet he couldn't do it. He remained obstinately transfixed.

"A problem Hank? Did you fall in love or what? "

Reed's mocking voice get him out of his dreams. Connor lowered his head quickly. His gestures became nervous. He had to calm down otherwise Hank would not be the only one to notice that the young homeless had a problem.

" Not a all. I'm done with this one ... I bring him back to the police station. He may have seen something. "

He had to take him away from the other policemen, and especially from that bastard Gavin. Above all, he had not to be reconize by the others. Otherwise, it was damn. He grabbed Connor's arm sharply. The machine didn't make the least movement to struggle. He knew he was lost. The squat was completely surrunded by the police and they interrogated the witnesses one by one. He had no escape. As soon as they see his face, he will be sentenced. So when Hank pretended to stop him, he just thought he was caught, and he just dropped his eyes in a sign of resignation. Without paying attention, the old policeman led him between the concrete pillars of the abandoned building. When he thought they were far enough, he pushed the android violently before letting out his anger:

"Ten months Connor, ten damn months without any news! Ten months since the explosion to ask me if they had kill you or not? And I find you by chance in a shabby squat on a crime scene! You owe me explanations, and they have an interest in pleasing me because I do not know what's holding me back from ... "

" I hate you. I hate humans. I hate you all. "

This whisper, tinged with rage and sadness, Hank took a moment to realize that he was coming out of the lips of his former teammate. The machine look up at the policeman with a deep rancor. Then, calmly, he continued:

"I should have been with them that day. I should have died with what was left of my people after the shootings of the army and the dismantling camps set up by your kind. But no. I was too stupid. Shortly before the attack, that night, to be sure to gather a maximum of deviants in the enclosure of our refuge, you know what the American human government did, Hank? Oh, no, you have no idea, do you? Well, they sent a message to Markus. They said that that evening, at 9 pm, they would publicly announce the end of the Jericho crisis. Tonight we will be free and equal in right to your species. The news spread quickly through our network and our connections. So, naively, androids have all gathered at our headquarters, to live this historic moment together, to be able to celebrate this hard-won victory. We were going to have the right to exist. It was just beautiful, Lieutenant, imagine? All these hopes, these dreams, this joy together. It was wonderful, simply. I felt so happy. It was strange. But while all my people dreamed of celebrating this moment by gathering, I wanted to live it with you. A completely irrational and stupid decision, but it seemed so important to be at your side then. So, after apologizing to Markus, I left the compound, I left my people to join my "partner". A human. Basically, we could not dream better, as a symbol of peace. It would have been enough for a few minutes more... I just saw the flash of the pulse bomb. I could not believe it at first. Then, I ran to the light source. I instinctively placed myself on a roof. And from there, I saw the human vehicles advance on the base. I saw the human army and the FBI enter the perimeter of the android territory. And I saw them, all those bodies that they were trampling on without addressing them a single glance... "

Connor was staring at him. Something in his chocolate eyes was calling Hank. He no longer recognized the sweet spontaneity and the touching curiosity of the young android fresh out of the factory that had served him as a teammate. No, his face had changed. He was more greavious. He was more worn. It was as if he were exhausted, as if he had aged ... and for a moment, Hank's heart squeezed. He understood what was bothering him so much in Connor's expressions: Brown's hazel eyes were now the exact reflection of his when he looked at himself in the mirror. As empty, as sad, as extinct. Connor looked down. Then, he just calmly whispered:

"They killed everyone. "

Her voice had risen weakly, but she had immediately defused the little bit of anger remaining in the human. She was far away, as if the android was talking to himself, remembering the scene. He looked up with eyes filled with repressed hatred and sadness at his former partner. Then, in a voice tinged with naivety, almost childish, he asked:

"Humans ... They killed everyone. They didn't even try to understand. We didn't want war, though. We just wanted a better world. I believed it, me ... I believed in them. I had faith in humanity. After all, I knew you ... You weren't so bad when you scratched a little under the surface. And yet ... I don't understand. It was a massacre. Tell me Hank, why did humans kill everyone? "

Hank didn't know what to answer. Why did humans kill everyone? There were so many answers to this question. Because it was a shitty world, boy. Because humans were better at destroying than building. Because they were afraid of this world of peace that androids wanted. Because they were human, and they were androids ... What to answer at that. The lieutenant's pained eyes rested on the deviant. Then, without thinking, as a primary instinct, the man grasped the deviant by the shoulder and pulled him against his chest. For a few seconds Connor tried to get out of the friendly hug, but Hank hugged harder. Then, obediently, the machine confessed to being defeated. And he wrapped his arms around Hank's body before placing his head in his neck. The elder's voice rose tenderly as one of his hands came to rest on the back of the RK800's head:

"That's why you didn't come to find me? You hated me already?"

Connor bit his lip. Then, he shook his head, sinking deeper into the officer's arms. He felt so angry and so lost at the same time. He would have wanted to destroy humanity without giving up this moment of heat in the embrace of his partner.

"No ... I hate you because you are the last thing that gives me hope in humanity. And it doesn't deserve it. I am the last one Hank. The last survivor of the leaders of Jericho. I never wanted that. I just wanted to be free. To be able to continue my investigations with you. Stroking Sumo. maybe listening to music, someday, really... I ... I tried to find you, Lieutenant. I tried. But wherever you go, they were behind you. I saw you gradually doing again the round of the bars in the city without being able to get you away from that again. I saw you return to sit on this bench and play with my old coin, without being able to join you. I saw you arrive again at the police station every day a little later, without being able to call you to order. The FBI was watching you, Hank, because they knew you were the only person I could have tried to contact. I trusted you. My only refuge. Even that, they managed to take it away from me. I was almost spotted a dozen times ... and then I stopped following you. I couldn't seeing you destroy yourself without having the slightest opportunity to intervene. It was too risky, and it made me suffer too much. So, I came here. It's not bad, you know, for an android. We get used to it ... in any case, it's easier to get used than to seeing a friend slowly self-destruct. "

Hank stared at the android with his blue eyes. Indeed, humanity did not deserve a second chance. It had destroyed the young man to the depths of his being of plastic and metal. Yet he had a lot of optimism and perseverance to spare, before ... but humans had managed to reduce all that to ashes. Connor had taught him how to live and smile, little by little. In return, humanity had taught him to hate and shake. It had taken away his only little star. It had gone out with the others that night. The faint glow that shone before him was no more than its timid memory subsisting sadly. The ghostly shadow of the lingering light of a star that was dead years ago ... Hank sighed.

"Listen, Connor, you know ..."

But he did not have time to finish his sentence. A whistle in his back made him feel like if a bullet had touched him in the heart.

"Ouah ! Look at that! Connor, huh? The alcoholic and the tin can! what a novel to do! I can't believe it! Nice catch Hank. I felt that you were cooking something. You won't get out this time, little plastic shit. "

Reed had just arrived, and he was pointing his gun at the duo. Hank turned, calmly raising his hands. He wanted to be able to jump on the young wolf and stick his fist in the smiling face, but at the slightest cry, the slightest detonation, the other policemen would be alerted and come to join them here. He had to stay calm.

"Reed, don't do that. Try to think five minutes to change. "

Why did humans kill everyone? The answer to that question was there, finally, in Reed's arrogant gaze and in his smug smile.

why did humans kill everyone?

Because they were like that, kid, simply. Don't blame them. In the end, they didn't know how to do otherwise.

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yeah ! another chapter translated! my translations will surely slow down when the english version have caught up with the original.

I apologize for all the mistakes you must have found in reading the story, don't hesitate to tell me what is wrong so that I can correct and improve. English is not my native langage so I apologize for mistakes!

And do not hesitate to tell me in comments if you want other translations, if my level is really catastrophic or if you like cookies! I will be happy to chat with you! see you soon for more!


	3. 1880 minutes

**Disclamer :** the characters are the exclusive property of quantic dream and come from the video game detroit become human

* * *

 **2880 minutes.**

Connor didn't move. He didn't move when he heard the safety of the revolver jump. He didn't even look at Reed. His eyes remained stubbornly empty, as Hank tried to intervene between the two men as best he could.

"Get out, Hank. There is surely a tramp in this fucking place with whom you can share a bottle. I'll even send you a whole bunch of money once I've cashed the reward for that piece of shit. Look at him... "

Reed smirked with a contemptuous smile, pointing to Connor with the extremity of his gun. Then, with a quick move of his hand, he dropped the black cap, revealing a febrile carmine glow that spin insolently on his temple.

"Nothing but a pale imitation of human. "

Hank prepared to retort, but Connor shoved him roughly to stand in front of Reed's weapon. The policeman tried to hold him, but the RK800 was not listening. He was animated by such anger that all reasoning seemed to have abandoned his so rational program. Without blinking, the machine moved calmly towards the barrel of the revolver and straightened it to point it to his forehead under the intrigued gaze of his opponent. The deviant raised his head and stared at Gavin with hateful eyes as his voice vibrated with barely contained rage.

"You're right, Reed, I'm not human. But what is humanity, Inspector? Emotions ? Organs that decay with age until you become senile? An amazing ability to destroy everything around you, including your own specie? It's just fabulous! it makes me so eager! And tell me Reed, because you understand, Inspector, I'm just a machine, I know nothing... What feelings could Perkins have felt when he pressed the button? When he did thousands of thousands of lives fly in a fraction of a second just with one finger? Guilt? Happiness ? Or maybe just the satisfaction of having accomplished his mission brilliantly? Ah, it is beautiful, your humanity! And I'm happy not to be part of it. I sincerely hope that one day no one will make me an affront to confuse myself with your specie. I still prefer a thousand times our fake tears when we have been annihilated and our counterfeited despair that your real smiles and your true joy. So fuck you bastard, you can shoot. I'm already dead. "

Reed stared at Connor with a dark gaze. His mocking smile had faded from his lips in favor of a more serious expression. The anger of the RK, however, had the effect of surprising him long enough that the police lieutenant had time to get off his gun and point it toward his colleague. For a moment, the scene seemed frozen, out of time. Only the LED on the face of Connor broke this grim picture.

"Reed, dont' be so dumb ... you're too young for me to explode your brains, but if you shoot, I promise you that you can say goodbye to your pretty little head, bastard. "

And Reed never had the opportunity to decide if he wanted to be a dumb or not.

"Connor, no! "

The machine didn't take a second into account the warning of his former partner. In an agile and quick move, the RK800 quickly grabbed the police inspector's hand before hitting his nose, causing him to moan in pain. Gavin tried to get out of the grip of the Cyberlife agent by sweeping his legs to make him fall to the ground. The android fell, dragging his opponent in his fall, without letting go of his grip the armed hand of the human. Hank, on his side, was agape. The din of the altercation reverberated on the bare concrete walls of the old construction site, risking at any time to attract a dozen barrels of revolver that they wouldn't hesitate to fire on the deviant. But Hank also knew that if he tried to control Connor, Reed would shoot as soon as the Android was in a weak position. As to control Reed ... It was enough that he starts to cry so that all his hopes of saving the young deviant be annihilated. And then, let's be honest, alcohol and old age, both running in his veins, ruined all his chances of gaining the upper hand over one or the other.

Reed punched violently at the machine's thirium pump, which folded for a moment in half, its operation briefly interrupted. A second blow hit his face, breaking his nose and revealing the alabaster skin of its artificial structure. Blue blood driped on the ground. But as the RK system stabilized, Gavin grabbed a small penknife that he hid in his shoe and planted it in the knee of the machine.

"Gavin, stop! He is alive !"

The policeman brandishes his weapon again towards the robot. Without thinking further, Hank grabbed him violently from behind to throw him to the ground. The young officer struggled more and hit the old inspector on the forehead with the butt of his revolver. The old man, surprised, let him go. But before Reed could redirect his weapon to the android, he felt a live and intense pain in his wrist. A snap was heard as he screamed in pain. Connor had just broken Gavin's hand. And this one, defeated, had dropped his weapon. The machine seized it, and, without the slightest hesitation, it directed the gun at the head of the dominated human.

Provocative, Reed snorted in the midst of his pain.

"That's it, asshole. You won't shoot. You aren't programmed for ... "

But Gavin interrupted his sentence and his jeering smile faded immediately. Where he thought he plunged his eyes into cold and robotic eyes, he rushed into two brown eyes, in which shone a nameless anger, wild like a hurricane able of taking everything away. Something in that damn machine had changed. It... He hated.

"Connor, stop! If you shoot you're going to stir everybody! "

Hank had interposed between them, and Gavin understood that he owed his salvation only to the reaction of the old policeman. Connor's fingers were still on the trigger. But while the young inspector was expecting him to drop his gun, he did not do anything about it. His dark irises were a bottomless pit of sadness and rage. The lieutenant slowly raised his hands before staring at his partner incredulously.

"Damn it, Connor, what are you doing? It's me you're pointing out! "

The RK800 raised its revolver, right, towards Hank. The latter stared at it with a mixture of sorrow haineand misunderstanding. In a voice trembling with anger, the deviant was content with spitting hainehis hate:

"Get out of here, Hank, or I'll kill you too. I'm done, anyway. They are surely already looking for us. And I promise on the thousands of dead in Jericho that I won't die without deactivating as many humans as i could, including you, if necessary. "

He was in pain. He was so in pain. He was a he was drained of his nerves and force, for far too long. Hank was all he loved in mankind, and because of that, he was also all he hated in it too. he was this hesitation of a split second that he had to shoot at Reed, and which had allowed the lieutenant to intervene. He was this damn luck that he offered his partner to step aside to let him shoot Gavin, instead of promptly ending the situation with two bullets in their hearts. He was the last chains that still tied him to his creators. If he wanted to be free, he had to kill Hank. Saving him, he showed empathy. Empathy was a human emotion. That's what the old man had taught him when he spared Chloe's model at Kamski's home. He did not want this empathy anymore. He wanted to destroy it. He had to kill his humanity. He didn't want to become human anymore.

To do this, he had just to press harder on the trigger of his firearm. But he couldn't do it. He couldn't do it. He couldn't fix these two blue irises without sinking into their compassion. An alert informed him that his software was deteriorating a little more.

" I hate you ! "

He shouted those words, like a call for help, as tears of rage and frustration flowed freely down his cheeks. Water, nothing but water, he thought, not tears. He didn't want to feel anymore. No, he didn't want those emotions witch weakened him. He had to become a machine again. He didn't want to be alive anymore.

"I know Connor, I know ..."

With gentleness and inhuman tenderness, the lieutenant approached the young deviant. Then, in a slow but firm gesture, he gently put his hands on the weapon of the android. Connor didn't resist. He couldn't. He was defeated, shot down by his own helplessness as surely as if Reed had fired first. In the distance, voices were heard, and their lugubrious sound presaged too well that they were looking for them. The disturbance of their altercation had finally attracted the other policemen.

"Connor, you have to leave, now! "

he said to the extinct Android. The latter slowly raised his face to the old inspector and looked at him with a gaze that mixed incomprehension and weariness. He laughed bitterly, so discreet but so heart-rending in the dark night that Hank's heart became heavy against the abrupt reality of the situation.

"Where can I go, Hank? It's over, anyway ... "

Connor would not be okay ... Connor was going to die. The lieutenant closed his eyes painfully. The voices were getting closer. Behind him, Reed stood up. In a paternal gesture, he put his hands on the shoulders of his former teammate. The Android didn't react. Despair seemed to already desactivate it, component by component.

"I'll get you out of there ... I'll find a way ..."

Hank was thinking at full speed. But even in his words, the tone of his voice already betrayed his heartbreak. There was no solution. There was none. Even if he managed to escape the dozen policemen who were coming in their direction, which already was highly unlikely, they would still have to get out of this trip and manage to outwit the FBI that was watching out the Hank's car and house. All this without Reed putting a bullet in their backs or civilians denouncing the former leader...

"Fucking shit ... Fucking shit ! you piss me off! "

Gavin's angry voice recalled his presence to the police lieutenant. The young man seemed confused, and in a movement of fury he kicked an abandonned old can on the floor. Then he looked at Connor with an expression mixing disgust with deep hesitation. The android had no reaction. At first sight, it looked like a simple wax statue. However, when one paid more attention, one couldn't not be caught by the two chocolate eyes that trembled with secret hatred and fear. In fact, Connor no longer worked like a machine. He look more like a wounded and frightened animal, frozen in the dazzling headlights of a car, incapable of the slightest movement, because of his terror of the humanity that was tetanizing him. A fear that the robot was trying to hide, but which manifested itself ostensibly in the flicker of his led, stubbornly red.

And in a subliminal memory in a fraction of a second, the young inspector relives the silent images of the television cameras that filmed the lying down bodies of thousands of androids ... What if?

"Get out of here, idiot! And above all you shut your mouth and you don't move, otherwise you're dead. "

With an instinctive movement that surprised the RK800 as much as his partner, Reed grabbed the Deviant's arm and pushed it unceremoniously behind one of the thick concrete posts of the abandoned carcass of the old unfinished building. He picked up his black cap and launched it in a scornful gesture before turning his attention back to Hank.

"48 hours. In 48 hours maximum you and your flashing shit you'll be definitely out of my life. I protect it 2880 minutes. Not one more. "

2880 minutes, to try to redeem a humanity. Reed did the math quickly. It was not so expensive. As the police torches appeared a few feet away, he flung a violent punch in the face of a totally stunned Hank. The latter fell to the ground just in time to see his colleague put his foot on the trail of blue blood still visible on the ground. He gave the inspector a puzzled look. He helped Connor. Reed, that bloody asshole, was helping Connor. It was incomprehensible, insomuch that the old policeman was absolutely not sure that it was a good thing.

"What's that mess again? REED! ANDERSON! Can I know what's going on here? "

Folwer came hurriedly, visibly overwhelmed by the behavior of his two agents. He was used to their fiery temperament and their notorious enmity, but that was going too far. Really too far, judging by the still bloodied nose of his inspector and his swollen hand that began to dye in a bad purple red.

"I sobered the lieutenant ... Sorry, but for a second, I took him for one of those boozers squatting this place. It's true that the resemblance is astoning! "

Gavin merely replied with a provocative and contemptuous smile against the old man. The lieutenant got up calmly and then wiped the blood that blew from his lip before sending an ironic smile to Folwer ... which was followed by a good punch in the Reed's belly. The latter, surprised not so much by the gesture as by the pain, folded in half, gasping for breath, before casting a dark gaze at his eldest.

"Maybe the ressemblance's astonishing you better like that, Reed? "

Two officers seized the lieutenant to separate him from his colleague. As another approached to help Gavin, Gavin shoved him away with his usual bad mood. Jeffrey Fowler was dismayed. The two men had never get to grips until now, but given the characters, it was not a surprising thing. However, Reed's state intrigued the police captain. His hand seemed sore, maybe even broken, and his nose was still bleeding. He knew his men. Hank was an angry and sometimes violent impulsive man, but he could never have gotten away with so few injuries against the young and athletic inspector. Not if Reed had attacked the first...

"Hank, do not take me for an idiot otherwise I promise you that this time, I will write myself the epilogue of your disciplinary novel! "

"It's ok Jeffrey! This guy is only a brat without brain and heart! A bastard that justifies the massacre of androids by ... »

"Stop with that Hank, it's not going to start again! "

The captain had shouted these words on his subordinate who had stopped speaking, not without, however, dedicated to him a look filled with anger. Here it is, the reason for this violent altercation. Folwer sighed. A further provocation from his young agent about the machines, a day when it was not a good idea. In a posture of chagrin, he pinched his nose before speacking with an ostentatious annoyance:

"Jesus, Hank! I manage a police station, not a kindergarten! You beat me it with your androids. They were machines, Hank, just fucking machines! Gouverment just pressed a switch, and they switch off tje androids like your electrical devices when you turn off the breaker. "

Hank closed his eyes painfully. Millions of people thought that. And every day, as the desire for freedom had blushed the bluish glow of androids, this speech of the victorious gained ground and contaminated the minds of humans. Soon, history would remember only the bug of 2038. It would forget Markus' moving song against the bullets, the canons that fall in front of this call to life, and the shy smile of Connor, so simple, so mimetic, still hesitant, in front of an old burger truck. But history is like that. The losers are silent, the winners decide.

"I tried everything Hank. I protected you against Perkins, I closed my eyes on your delays, your smell of alcohol, your staggering footsteps. I offered you the help of a psychologist, to take a vacation I ... I did everything ... but here you go too far. I helped you in memory of the past, and you did nothing but spit on the hand I handed you. It's over, Hank. Now you get out of there, you get out of this crime scene immediately and you give me your plate. You are suspended until further notice! I don't want to see you here anymore, understood? "

the old lieutenant didn't blink at Fowler's anger. For a moment, the captain thought he was going to see his old friend again in this defensive stance, so solid and so peaceful at the same time. No heat. No scream. Just the strength of a character who refuses to bend. Hank took out his plate and his weapon and threw them at the feet of his superior, before turning around and leaving, without uttering a single word. Yet, in his mind, a lot of things were happening.

He prayed with all his might, hoping that Fowler pay no attention to the irregular shadow of the concrete pillar that hid the last dreamer of Jericho. He prayed that the young inspector didn't decide to denounce the android finally, and that he could get him out of there. He prayed beacause he want that tonight again, an earthy glow with sadly reddish shades would continue to shine in this night without the slightest star above their heads.

A thought crossed his mind like an unconscious revelation.

It was impossible to see the stars at night in Detroit.

Except for those who knew where they had to look for finding their red shy light...

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and a another chapitre is ending ! It was particulary hard to translate, so don't hesitate to tell me if there are too many mistakes ! Thanks you to everyone who left me a review ! Hope you enjoy this chapter too ! See you soon for the rest of the story !


	4. The wolves's anger

_Here we go ! thank you to all those who commented on me, added my little storie to their favorites or who follow me! thanks thanks thanks! Hope there aren't too muck mistakes !_

 **Disclaimer:** the characters are the exclusive property of Quantic Dream and come from the video game Detroit: become human

* * *

 **The wolves's anger**

"... Still without news from the creator of androids. Police are asking anyone with information about Elijah Kamski's worrying disappearance to contact them as soon as possible. As a reminder, Mr. Kamski's villa was found completely empty by the agents of Cyberlife came to recover the old models of androids that the founder of the company had in his possession. According to our informations, two of the three RT600 had been disabled by their owner, which is currently not found. No track has been set aside so far as ... »

With an annoyed sigh, Gavin turned off the radio. He preferred to stay focused on his strange passenger rather than being distracted by the news. The young inspector kept looking worriedly at the android sitting on the front seat of his vehicle. He didn't trust Connor. He had never felt the slightest empathy for this machine so formal, so clean on it, so perfect. Gavin Reed didn't like perfection. This abstract notion tended to standardize things in subjective standards that made everyone unhappy because they were inaccessible. He widely preferred all those little faults that made a living being someone unique. Perfection was an idiotic ideal. It was good for an Android sent by Cyberlife. An angel face, a heart of stone, and the most fake smile of all Detroit. Except that night... that night Connor didn't smile. And it made it a little less perfect.

The young inspector never ceased to wonder about his own actions. Why had he taken it in his car? Why had he been so oblivious as to jeopardize his precious career during his little staging with Officer Anderson? Why had he risked so much more by coming back for it two hours after the police left the crime scene? He was still wondering. And Connor was asking himself exactly the same questions, while on his temple, an infernal ring shone faintly with a reddish glow. Gavin stammered at the sight of the circle that was spinning stubbornly:

"Shit ! Put off your damn cap! In the night we only see that! "

He pointed at the Android's LED with a scornful gesture. Not without glancing at him with a mute hatred, Connor silently obeyed. And without a smile. They drove a few more minutes like that, before Reed spoke mockingly.

"And that thing here, on your head, it's normal that it's still red? Are you so afraid about me, tin can?"

Connor looked away at the passenger window of the vehicle. The parade of street lamps in the city while the vehicle continued its wandering through the night was sadly echoing the artificial glow that blinked stubbornly on the face of the android. For a moment Reed thought the machine wouldn't answer him. But the dragging voice of the RK800 rose, almost dreamy.

"It's been like this for ... for a few months. I can't stabilize it. "

Months ... it was not worth saying more. The explosion that had taken away thousands of little identical diodes had left behind a sad reddish glow, angry, stubbornly hammering on the temple of his owner his secret rancor and his deep torment. A last flame of revolt for the castaways of Jericho. And the irony of fate had wanted that the deviants hunter was the one who mourned it, like a brand with a hot iron that would scream at him to never forget his mistakes, and those of men. Reed stared at the android for a moment. He looked almost tired. He didn't even look at him. He persisted in searching outside for an imaginary trace of that illusory freedom he had dreamed of. He seemed so calm, in appearance, like that black and silent night.

Connor doesn't say a word. He couldn't do it anymore. He felt exhausted, not physically, his perfect mechanics didn't know exhaustion. But his mind was used to the very depths of his bio-components. The hatred and anguish of the last few months had gnawed at him like a deadly rust, leading him to fight every second against the violence of the deviance that lay dormant in him. He would never admit it to Reed, but the police inspector was partly right. In a way, he was actually afraid of him. After all, he was human. And the machine knew only too well what this specie was able to do under its weak airs and its good morals. He had seen them at work. And he had witnessed their ruthless anger. So yes, Connor was scared. He was afraid of Reed. He was afraid of Hank. He was afraid of humans. At least as much as he hated them.

Again, a tense silence settled between the two men. The RK800 seemed frozen, his elbow resting on the edge of the door, his head resting on his stubborn right fist, as if he had to fight against an inaccessible enemy at any moment. But no one can hit an emotion. The ferocious rage he was feeling was mocking his clenched hand and his dead smile. As good as he was, she laughed at his sophisticated software, his analytical gadgets and superhuman agility. She had nothing to fear from all that. She fed on her deviance, and his madness that had been his burning desire to exist. Why didn't he stay in his right place? Why couldn't he just follow orders? The result would have been the same, but at least he wouldn't have had to suffer. They would have just replaced him. His mission would have been accomplished. He would never have known the warmth of Hank's friendly embrace, the sweetness of a home like Jericho, and that cursed hope that hid in his shadow the insolent specter of disillusionment. There can't be dreams in the world of men. They are too obstinate to reduce them to the mere illusion that a green banknote can buy them all their hopes. Yet, before, they had been different, right? They had also revolted ... But now, they seemed not to understand this insatiable need that the Android people had to believe, to free themselves and to live. How he hated humans!

"Why, Reed? "

The inspector didn't watch the road for half a second to stare at the android with a questioning look. But he still didn't seem to see him. He wasn't even sure the machine really spoke to him. Connor continued to lost his eyes in the night shadows relentlessly, as a fine rain began to fall, escaping in thousands of ephemeral silver snakes running on the dirty glass of the car.

"Why do you help me? "

The human breathed a long sigh, as if he fearing this question from the beginning.

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me, Connor ... The Cyberlife's most powerful machine. Bullshit ! If you knew how I couldn't stand you! I promise you that I was already contain myself in the police station, and that I still hold on. You have no idea how much I hate all that you embody ... I wanted to take you apart myself, piece by piece. So calm, so dead, so perfect. A real war machine,aren't you, Bastard? "

Connor didn't even react to the insult. He didn't even pay attention to the provocation of the young man. Once again, Reed sighed wearily. Then, in a voice astonished at the character he was, he contented with replying:

"I hate machines. I really hate them. But I ... I'm not the one you think. Maybe I'm a bastard for you, but shit, I'm also a cop. I can not stand injustice. And these deviants, you see ... they were fucking alive ... It took me a long time to understand, but they had something you didn't have. And I hated seeing you at work. It looked like a fool hunting dog stalking his prey relentlessly to bring it back to her masters, wagging it tail meanwhile it victim was still bleeding. I wanted so much to put that damn buller in your stupid head.. "

Connor interrupted the policeman, bursting into a cold, terribly false laugh before finally glancing at the inspector with a glacial glare. Reed had already seen this expression on the RK800. The same it had used while he was mistreating the Carlos Ortiz's deviant, in the interrogation room. Except that this time, it was tinged with a real rage, ready to explode at any time, even if for that it had to take everything in its path, both the existence of the machine that his own life. Connor was not thinking as calmly as the excellent hound he had been before. The hound had been beaten and delivered to itself in the forest. He was wild again. He had become a wolf again.

"Of course Reed, you seemed to love deviants so much ! At point of being ready to push the Carlos Ortiz's devant to self-destruction, not without having first kindly proposed to beat him in order to make him confess! And I was thinking, what about the scamp investigation in front of the body of a tracy in a night club and your attempt to kill me into the evidence room? No, for sure, what an irrefutable demonstration of humanity, Reed! A real saint! "

The steering wheel that the human gave surprised a fraction of a second the android. Without a word, Reed had just parked on the side. He turned to Connor before spitting at him:

"Shut up, you don't even know what you're talking about! Having a trendy processor, a superior intelligence and two or three stupid little gadgets, don't gives you the right to judge everyone from your pedestal! But calm down, bastard, you're nothing more than a heap of shit sent by Cyberlife to repair their dirty work! You know nothing. You are full of prejudices! You don't even ask yourself the right questions. You analyze, and you don't think. And that's why Jericho sank. Because of your fucking machine pride and your hasty judgments on everything that moves, as long as your damn analyzes match with your theories and your reconstructions! But the world is not so simple, it is not reduced to some proofs and a handful of algorithms. It isn't binary, divided into categories like humans and deviants, good and bad, or the fucking 1 and 0 of your damn program. People are ... complicated. "

The idea of Reed with the slightest notion of empathy seemed as curious to Connor as those of living machines seemed absurd to many humans. But the inspector paid no more attention than that to the moods of the RK. He simply continued with an not contained annoyance:

"I was trying, at least on my level ... I know, it surprises you, pile of scap ? I hate machines, but deviants ... Well, I don't like them, for sure, but I can't tolerate what is inflicted on them, it's not ... fair. So yeah, I helped them as best as I could, and the more I did it, the more I hated those androids who couldn't rebel. It was easy for me to proclaim loudly that I hated you all ... it was almost true. And then, would you looking for a deviant protector into a guy like me, Connor? My bloody temper was a perfect cover. "

The young inspector leaned over Connor, grabbing his pack of cigarettes in the glove box and lighting one. The glowing end of the butt began intermittently echoing the android's faint circle of light, partially hidden beneath a stripped cap. He seemed to find a certain peace in this simple gesture, his animosity toward his traveling companion seeming to evaporate slowly in small swirls of foul smokes. He then resumed, with a annoyed voice, but calmer.

"I never wanted to hurt this android that day in the interrogation room. I ... I just wanted to destroy it. Androids don't feel the pain so I thought ... I thought it was always better for it than to end up like that, disassembled alive on the chains of Cyberlife after being stored like an old rag doll in the evidence room, waiting for you to complete your investigation. I didn't want you to load it. I didn't want it to speak either. I just wanted to turn it off, by any means, before others did it in the worst possible way and take advantage of it to learn about other deviants. It made me ... somehow painful, i suppose."

Reed turned to Connor, calmly, before adding:

"It surprise you, isn't it? Mr. I know everything ? Do you have that in your cheap psychology software, that notion of compassion and mercy? No, I'm sure it didn't even come to your mind. "

Connor didn't say a word. After taking a fresh breath of brown poison, the human resumed the road as if nothing had happened. Then, after a few seconds, he continued his story in a distant voice, as if he remembered with regret every time he had tried to defeat the hound of Cyberlife, without ever succeeding.

"I had already dealt with a deviant before ... during one of the first investigations on the subject, even before you landed at the police station. I had to shoot him down. It had moved me despite myself. But the day of the interrogation day... I couldn't let you do that. I didn't want to help them, but I couldn't agree to permit Cyberlife destroy them until I knew exactly what they were. Androids are terrifying, Connor. They are stronger, smarter, they never get tired, they have no weakness. I am convinced that without this revolution, one day, there would have been no humans anymore. You would have replaced us, little by little. But that fear that I saw in Ortiz's deviant, that anger ... that weakness was ... it was too much alive. Too real, compared to your artificial smile, your rigid step and your politeness. So, I did everything to forestall you. I went to The Eden Club before Hank and you arrived, to be sure you couldn't find anything, but the poor girl was already dead. How could I have known that they were two? And that an another deviant was accompanying her? I tried to serve you a scenario developed quickly with the evidence in my possession, hoping that Hank would return to sink his whiskey in a bar, too happy to have an escape from a night of shit, but no! It seemed that you managed to make him want to exist again ... I have rarely been so relieved as when I knew they had escaped you. I found them, you know? Them, and Rupert, too. I tracked him after your report, to get my hands on him before others ... and little by little, I began to help them despite myself. I thought of doing it reluctantly, but every time a deviant returned to Jericho, this seemingly idyllic place for them, I felt a little less bitter, and a little more peaceful. It had become my red ice, someway. And then, one day, you were relieved of the investigation ... I really thought I had won, you know? "

Connor stared for a moment at the police inspector. What he was learning from him, what he was telling him there, calmly, didn't correspond to what he knew about the impulsive young man he had met in the interrogation room. Yet, in a sense, it was consistent. But never, not a single minute, he had considered the man like this. He had stuck to his apparent nonchalance and his deep hatred of androids. Yes, Gavin Reed hated machines, and paradoxically, that was what drove him to love deviants.

"But you never tried to help me …"

Gavin burst out laughing as he heard Connor's words, then shook his head, amused, as if that simple idea seemed totally unbelievable and stupid to him.

" You know what ? You're wrong, I was stupid enough to try to do it once. When I learned that you were relieved of the investigation, I told myself that you would surely be disabled. I had a surge of pity. I thought that if you had to show any sign of real life, it would be at that precise moment, in this time of fragility that the announcement of your return to Cyberlife had undoubtedly created. It must have made you an emotional shock, right? Your precious mission failed, and all your perfect little person, condemned to be dismantled for analysis ... I saw you go to the evidence room. I joined you. I really thought I would see it, that spark of doubt in your eyes, that little red flicker on your temple. But no. When I called you, you turned, coldly. Then, without the slightest trace of emotion, you answered me calmly, ironically, as if the idea of ?your own death didn't bother you more than that. And you went through the door to put the evidence in your possession. You didn't have anything alive, nothing. And besides, you made fun of me ! You didn't have the right to take any element of the investigation with you, it was in this damned regulation that you followed by the book ... and on the verge of death, the only thing that worried you was to put away in the evidence room the elements of the investigation that you had in your possession for the next one ... I went down to the basement. I still had some hope, after this little mark of irony, that you were going to let me see something, like a sign or a weakness. But no. You were still the proud asshole of Cyberlife with his broom in his ass buried so deeply that he impaled his conscience. Damn it ! when you confessed to me that you located Jericho ... I understood that I had to kill you, whatever the cost. But even if I was giving everything, you were a machine, and I was a simple human. A machine doesn't fail, I'm right, Connor? "

There was a short silence. Connor recorded these elements. He tilted his head to one side for a second. He wasn't yet deviant, at that time, it was true. But Reed was wrong. He was no longer the machine of Cyberlife. He had begun his transformation. He had became Hank's partner. He had forgotten what he was, to become what an alcoholic and depressive policeman was waiting for. And that day, he was scared, under his face of wax. He had been afraid to die. But only the old cantankerous cop had guessed his fear, so well hidden behind his hazel irises.

"So ... why today is it different? "

The robot asked, planting a look in the young man's eyes where the questions kept fighting with doubt and anger. Reed smiled slightly. A smile almost tender. A bit bitter smile, too. A worn smile.

"From the beginning, you imitated emotions perfectly, Connor. I'd never seen that at a non-deviant machine. In the interrogation room, you looked so angry, and so compassionate ... you could display a disconcerting innocence and the next minute, you track down a prey with an implacable and cruel relentlessness. Damn you made me want to throw up, when you simulated these feelings without even understanding them. It was ... chilling. And Hank seemed to begin to like you and your little fake smiles! You know, it's easy to deceive someone with a candid air and some marks of affection. Whatever one says, all humans want to be loved. And Hank had lost everything ... It just need that to be mislead : a smile, a tender look, a few words ... a real child's play! Basically, love is a fucking lie! But hate, that ... it's a different thing. Hate does not deceive. She does not cheat. We do not simulate it. She is raw, fierce, uncontrollable. She burns more than we feel her, actually. It is a truth that can not be falsified. "

The inspector began to slow down as he approached a gray building, quite low, but whose imposing silhouette was reminiscent of an old industrial building rather than a dwelling. He parked his car in a parking space in the backyard. Then he stopped the engine and remained a fraction of seconds motionless, before returning his attention to the android.

"Tonight, Connor, you hated us. And I know you hate us again. And that, man, it makes you a machine more alive than you've ever been. "

Then, without adding anything more, he got out of the car under the perplexed look of the RK800.

* * *

 _I wanted to try an experiment by re-reading certain scenes of the game from a new angle, to set up even more deeply the changes of Reed. I hope it didn't shock you too much ^^_

 _do not hesitate to leave me your opinion or report me my mistakes ! See you soon !_


	5. Humans don't like birds

**Disclaimer:** the characters belong to Quantic dream and come from the video game detroit become human

* * *

 **Humans don't like birds...**

Connor remained frozen, a real wax statue proudly planted in the middle of Inspector Reed's living room. His chest was not lifting under his breath, his lips were stubbornly closed and no sound was trying to escape from them, while his dark eyes landed on a prostrate figure on the ground that gave him fierce intermittent glances. The human had interposed between the two beings of metal and plastic. With a gentleness he didn't know Reed was able to have, Connor saw him slowly put his weapon at the entrance and calmly raise his hands in appeasement gesture, as he carefully approached the deviant huddled in a corner of the room. His voice became peaceful as he squated at the level of the poor frightened creature. For a moment, Connor even saw on these usually insolent lips the shadow of a tender smile.

" Hey ! It's okay, calm down Rupert, it's me. Just me. Do you remember? Gavin. We're friends, you and I ... and that it's ... "pile of scrap". It won't hurt you ok? I promise you... "

The android seemed less sure than the policeman of this last statement. He didn't even look at Reed. He didn't seem to be able to stop watching at the high stature of the RK800, which crushed him by his mere presence. The former hound of Cyberlife, for its part, didn't dare to make a gesture. He was paralyzed by that accusing look, by those two brown eyes, so akin to his own, but which, however, didn't resemble them in any way. These two irises were not trembling with hatred. They didn't know rage. They only expressed the uncontrollable fear of a beast facing a hunter ... or a victim facing an executioner. Implacable informer mirror, this desperate look seemed to beg the old detective robot to not make it disappear. And this simple expression in one of his own was enough to chain the powerful machine in his steel body. For the first time, Connor found himself directly facing the consequences of his actions. Rupert had been pursued by the relentless tracker he had been. He still remembered his frenzied escape, this desperate run through the dangers to try to escape the death that was on his heels. The same death standing there, facing him, motionless. He was scared. He was afraid of this specter of Cyberlife : his name had shaken all Deviants of Detroit for many months. He was afraid of death. Reed turned to Connor with an openly hostile glare:

"What do you not understand in « stay in the corridor and wait before come in », asshole !? Jesus you're really stupid! "

Connor didn't waver under the insults. He didn't even pay attention to the human. His eyes remained stubbornly frozen on the former bird trainer who had fallen in love for freedom in a gloomy apartment in the heart of a gray city. He had entered with Reed despite his injunctions because he didn't trust the man. He hadn't expected to dive into a cloud of feathers and seeds while the other android ran away when he had seen him.

"It's not good Reed ... he's not good. You mustn't believe him. It's Cyberlife, I don't want to go ... I just want to stay with the birds, Reed please, birds are my friends. "

With a sigh, Gavin gently brushed Rupert's cheek, who didn't try to escape this mark of tenderness. The human grimaced slightly. This simple gesture awakened the pain of his injured hand, but he tried to hide it from the deviant's eyes. The detective offered him a slightly sad smile. There was so much affection in this simple exchange that it surprised Connor. He didn't know that Reed could be so ... "human". With a soft firmness, the policeman placed his second hand on Rupert's face and forced his fleeting glance to anchor in his gray eyes. Strangely, as if he was attached to reality by the policeman's merry pupils, the deviant seemed to calmed down a little.

"You have to listen to me, Rupert, it's important. Connor won't hurt you, I won't allow it. He's no longer with Cyberlife, as you don't work for the farm anymore, ok? "

"But ... what if he hurts you again? He runs fast. He already hurt you, I remember, I took care of you. And your hand ... you have pain in your hand ... it's him, isn't it? You have no chance, Reed ... and I don't believe it. He'll hurt you again ... "

The policeman stepped away a bit from the android, not without a reproaching tongue slap at the reminder of the superiority of the machine over him in all their altercations. Just thinking about it, his head ached again and his broken wrist ached painfully at him. Without turning to Connor, the human ordered in a cold voice, extremely different from the tone filled with compassion and affection that he used a little earlier:

"Hey asshole. Take off that fucking cap. You have to show him. "

Connor clenched his fists, hesitating to try to repress his mad desire to hit the inspector to reduce his face to a shapeless mass of flesh and blood. All these insults, all these humiliations suffered by his people and himself, he would have so wanted to avenge them with a big punch in the sneering face of humanity ... Reed and his mocking smile would have been perfect to expiate this hate. However the human was his best chance to get by, although the Android doubted more and more to want to live in a world as rotten as this one. But his life didn't belong to him anymore. He was a memory. A memory of what the world could have been if the Men had not pressed the detonator. His eyes rested on the other machine. Rupert looked at the policeman with a strange fascination, and a Gavin he didn't know returned to him his admiration by the gentleness of a few gestures he never allowed himself to do with anyone. Connor was intrigued. And almost jealous. It reminded him a time when he could still lost himself in whiskey scents and in the soothing heat of an aging body. Then he loosened his fists almost reluctantly, and he took off his cap, shamefully revealing the luminous circle that kept dancing insolently on the flames of his nascent madness.

Rupert was attracted by the reddish glow like a butterfly by the sizzling light of a street lamp. He tried to sketch a sympathetic smile. He seemed to be slowly appeasing, mesmerized by the reddish ring that married the RK800 to his hatred. He felt empathy for the old hound. He was still far too human.

"It's still red like that? "

Connor didn't answer. Rupert tilted his head to the side.

"It must hurt you ..."

For the first time since he had entered in the secret of this apartment, Connor replied in a neutral voice.

"Androids don't feel pain. "

Rupert smiled slightly.

" You lie. You don't feel it, but you know it. And you experience it, permanently. So yes, it hurts you."

He looked at Connor for a while with an expression that made him look down. There was a strange depth in the savage iris of the fugitive, Like a kind of impenetrable wisdom that the limbo of madness could give to these beings oscillating between two realities. Rupert seemed totally foreign to this world. He lived in his own universe, he was talking to the birds, and he was smiling at Reed as if the bomb had never exploded. The former Cyberlife agent didn't know if he was sorry for the machine or envious of it. It was disturbing. The RK800 remembered to feel this kind of feelings just once in his life, when he met an intriguing android named Lucy and dived into his omniscient irises.

Rupert turned his attention to Reed, and his fascinating aura faded, as he once again dedicated his attention to the human only:

"But ... he sank Jericho... I don't like him."

Reed burst out laughing as he released the face of the android. Connor couldn't take his eyes off the man he didn't recognize. Even his face seemed to change in these few gestures of tenderness so intimate and so unusual. Calmly, almost murmuring, as if he was afraid than speaking too loudly he was risking yo break that unique bond that united him to Rupert, Reed told him:

"Don't worry, I can't stand him if you want to know everything! But you know, I didn't like you too, at the begining, remember ? But we got a chance and now, I'd like you to try to do the same with Connor. He needs help. And in a few days, I promise you that in a few days, you won't see him again, okay? "

Rupert's impulsive and timorous pupils stopped all movement. They secretly embraced the gray eyes of the human, while finally, an innocent smile came to draw on the synthetic face the shadow of a pardon. A pigeon cooed over them, breaking that complicit moment as Reed sighed wearily.

"Damn it ! Rupert how many times I told you that I Don't want these cursed birds in my apartment! It's not a dovecote here, and it is out of the question that you turn my home into a pigsty ... so get these critters full of diseases out of my sight, or I promise you that I make nuggets with them. And I'm not joking. I have breadcrumbs and everything for that. "

Rupert's smile faded immediately and the farmer android jumped up, much too quickly to not that this gesture betrayed his machine nature, before stammering in a panicked voice.

"I'm taking care of it Reed. No more pigeons, it's promised. No birds free in the cages of humans. Humans don't like that. They don't like what can fly. It's too free. They don't like feathers. It's too light. They eat what can fly. Don't eat Cassiopeia, please ... "

Reed straightened and spread his arms in protest.

"Ah because that thing have a name? Rupert, I swear to you that I'm going ... "

The android quickly grabbed the bird and headed for a room at the back of the apartment. In his fear of seeing his precious "Cassiopeia" finish in donuts or stew, he had completely forgotten about his fear of the RK800. It must be said that the deviant had his own priorities.

"Promised Gavin, no more birds. Rupert's friends stay outside, otherwise you eat them. No more birds. "

As the android drove away, Reed waited until he couldn't hear him, before mumbling, as annoyed as amused.

"Yeah that's it, no more birds ... until tomorrow, as usual. You make fun of me! "

Connor stared at the policeman with a glare still filled with anger. His voice slammed like a whip in the air, cold and impersonal, bringing the detective to the harsh reality of a world where he and Rupert were not allowed to share this sweet complicity.

" Two days. "

Reed turned to Connor, not without hiding his annoyance just at the sound of his voice. He really couldn't stand him. But he had no choice. He needed him ... and then, he saw that hate in those eyes. He had seen life there. He couldn't let it go out in indifference. Fuck, He was a cop! He loved that fucking justice. He still wanted to believe in it. But it was getting harder and harder in a world where the border between what was right and what was wrong was increasingly tenuous and subject to political and economic seductions. The government hadn't agreed to leave the machines alive because it would have created an unprecedented social, economic and political crisis in history. It justified "the justice of the bomb" in the eyes of the most powerful. But the legitimacy of this justice crumbled more and more in his own eyes.

He moved away from the android to get a coffee and a box of soothing to sleep again his throbbing wrist. But Connor was stubborn. When an idea trotted in his head, he didn't let go easily. Like Hank, by the way. This reflection made the policeman smile. If they really had to work together definitively, these two would have destroyed Detroit with their shitty character even more violently than this bomb, with or without Perkins.

"You said to Anderson that you would only help me two days. No one more. And you just told Rupert that he should support me longer. It's not logical. "

Reed burned his tongue as he absorbed his coffee and cursed at the RK800 as if he were responsible for his clumsiness. Then, in an annoyed voice, he shouted:

"Yes, that's what I said, and believe me, two days it seems already too much! I even hope that you have cleared before the end of this time because I'm not sure to be able to contain my desire to tear your head and your damn light to make a bedside lamp. "

The Rk stepped forward, but Reed didn't move. The tension in the air was palpable. No, definitely, there was nothing to do, he hated this android. There had always been around Connor an unhealthy aura, something terribly gloomy. Beneath his polite and courteous airs, he had been designed to hunt down and kill. He had been the arm of Cyberlife, and even though Hank had made him sink into deviance, he was even more dangerous and complex. With Rupert everything was simpler. Things were more tender and more distant from the realities of this world. He was a refuge. Connor was a new form of bomb. But Gavin had no other solution. He needed a weapon ... So he gathered his composure so he wouldn't be tempted by the idea of shoot in Connor's perfect head. He glanced around at the room where Rupert had disappeared before heading towards it to close the door, jostling Connor as he passed. Then he signaled to the RK800 to follow him a little further into the kitchen. In a low voice, as if he feared the other machine would hear them, he calmly exposed his plan to Connor.

"I have contacts. Not many, some of them have disappeared lately, but during my investigations in your footsteps, I discovered a mesh of smugglers who helped androids to reach Canada. I will contact them to take care of you at the border. They work for a human, Rose Chapman, she has already helped a lot of yours. She has fled to Canada to avoid prison, where she is helping the few machines still active to integrate into a new life. All humans are not evil, Connor. Some of them even sacrificed everything to try to change the world. "

Reed interrupted his speech while he finished his coffee. Connor didn't notice his last sentence. He was always skeptical about the real motivation of men. Had they made peace with androids to destroy them better?

"As soon as Hank is convoked, and believe me, it won't be a long time before Fowler do that, we will begin your escape. He'll have to go with you, I guess. Perkins won't let him and without him ... you seem too unstable to reach the border safely, isn't it? "

Connor sighed, before throwing a hostile glare at Gavin. He understood perfectly the meaning of these words. And he had to admit that the detective wasn't wrong. He would never have reached the border without collateral damages. His hate had devoured his programs as Amanda controlled them before: it was a safe bet that he would have left a trace of red blood in the scarlet wake of his LED ... resist his anger, it was as tempted to break the wall of his deviance, again and again, at every moment. He was constantly fighting against a red cage that was trying to trap him in his hot nets.

"And what do you want in return? Humans never do anything for free. "

Reed moved away from the RK to put his cup in the sink. He leaned on the edge of the kitchen furniture before looking at his interlocutor with an implacable look:

"I want Rupert to leave with you. "

The elite machine raised an eyebrow of surprise before bursting into a cold laugh. Rupert? Of course ! Reed thought he was too unstable to travel alone to finally put in his paws an androide even more disturbed! With him, their chance to reach Canada one day fell drastically. Rupert was a moving target in this world: Connor was sure that Rupert Had no chance to survive. He was even surprised that he was always alive, where others androids much stronger had died. Connor's voice rose, resolved.

" No way. "

Reed lost his insolent smile. He put his burning gray irises of determination in the eyes of the RK. Then, coldly, he spat in his face all the contempt he inspired.

"You'd give up one of yours, Connor? Congratulations! Nice lesson of empathy. Humanity has obviously made you more contaminated than you seem to admit, apparently. "

Connor walked over to Reed and grabbed him by the collar to press him against the wall. The policeman put his valid hand on the arm of the RK to try to make him realease his grasp, but it didn't work. The metal creature had an implacable and cruel strength. He whistled in an icy voice, unfastening each of his words as if he wanted them to hammer the spirit of the human and stab his hopes in their cruel reality:

" . . It is far too damaged to follow us. At the slightest chance, they'll kill him and because of him, we'll die too. If he wants to survive a little longer, it's here with you. It is you who leave it between our feet to get rid of him by leaving your conscience and your hands clean. But I'll tell you the truth, Reed. If you let him come with us, you shoot him as coldly as the human who will shoot in his face. He will never reach Canada. "

Gavin tried unsuccessfully to push the RK violently in a burst of anger. A deep distress shone in this troubled look.

" Shut up ! Rupert must leave. He has no chance here, do you hear me? Look at him ! With his pigeons, his smiles, his sweetness … Fuck ! he stinks deviant androide for miles. I can't even let him go out of this apartment. He must content himself with looking at the world through the window, he's no longer alive, he's waiting for death in boredom every day. He's in a cage. That's not what he wanted. He loves birds because they are free, and he sees himself bursting into a death place between concrete walls. You have to take him away. You're a fucking killer machine, as weak as his chances are, if he had a chance to pass the border one way or another, it's with you. You must protect him. He must see Canada. I can't keep it here. Neighbors already suspect something, I'm sure. It's just a matter of time. So yeah, this trip is dangerous for him. But this iss his only chance. He comes with you, or no one leaves. It's my condition, son of a bitch. "

Connor looked at the human without trying to hide his scorn and his sinister amusement:

" Really ? It's funny that you tell me that, when you know that it's your fucking humanity that has engendered me ... "

Gavin spat on Connor's face. The androide didn't blink, just wiping his skin with a sleeve cuff. He detailed Reed. Despite his hostility, there was a strange sincerity in these words. Slowly, he released his hold, leaving the creature of flesh falling on the ground, before departing a few steps. He retorted in a last attempt on a tone tinged with skepticism:

"Anyway, I'm really not sure that Rupert agrees with this idea. He doesn't seem to like me so much."

Reed smirked.

"Your right, he was there when you blew Jericho. He had finally found a family there. But he was separated from the others when the ship sank. So he naturally came to look for me in front of the police station. I have never panicked so much in my life as when I saw his stupid face shyly coming out of the shadows to try to contact me. It doesn't sound like that, but you know, Rupert has some resources. He had managed to pass a driving license, find a job to get some money and all that, before you landed in his life. That's a lot better than most deviants did ! "

On this point, the detective wasn't wrong. Rupert had forged a human identity from nothing in the decadence of his apartment with a thousand birds. He had begun to create a life in the midst of feathers and dreams, at the top of this dilapidated old building that served him as a nest. Connor sighed. He had to admit defeat. If he didn't help Rupert, Reed would not help him in return.

"And how do you plan to help us to escape from the FBI'eyes and get out of the city? "

The human had a mysterious smile:

"I have my idea. "

He held out his hand. The android stared for a moment, hesitating, not knowing how to react. He didn't want to make any alliance with his former enemy. And then, this gesture seemed so ridiculous and so incoherent: how could a handshake force him to keep his promises? Yet there was in this simple gesture a raw sincerity that disturbed him. He could hardly bring himself to grab a human hand. He couldn't forgive. But Reed ... He didn't know what to think about him anymore. So briefly, his skin retracted and the white plastic fingers met the warm skin of a body of flesh and blood in a silent pact.

"I'll talk to Rupert. He'll follow you. I'll manage to convince him, I owe him that. "

Reed was about to leave the room, but Connor's voice called him to order.

"How much did you help? "

Reed turned to Connor, looking puzzled.

«Androids? how many have you saved? "

The face of the human adorn itself with a melancholy smile. For a moment, his eyes seemed to be lost in distant memories. How much he had saved, huh? Not a lot, unfortunately. He thought back to the two Traci, that he settled for watching them from afar as they tried to find a safe haven to be sure they would reach it, but without having the courage of helping them. He saw the Carlos Ortiz'deviant, that he had been ready to push for destruction so that Cyberlife doesn't take him, without any other state of mind than the doubt about the reality of his emotions. Then he thought of Rupert, the first time, he had just thrown him into his car when he asked him to bring him to Jericho. He helped him because he didn't know what to do with the young deviant in front of him... And that guy had come back in his life, however, to try to bring him some fragments of that soul and courage he had lost in the sinister tide of this inhuman city. Rupert had saved the policeman more than the policeman had saved him, in fact. Reed closed his eyes for a split second. The bodies of thousands of inanimate androids appear in memory, his ears resonating with thousands of silent cries. He was a coward. He was scared. He had not the courage, before that, before Rupert, to act, really. He had observed without saying anything, he had acted just a little to try to influence the events, without much conviction, just enough to relieve his conscience, without really believing in his actions. Like millions of citizens, he was silent. Like millions of citizens, the bomb had exploded on its inaction and lack of empathy. He could have done more. He should have done so much more. But the loudmouth of the police station was silent. And the bomb exploded in resounding silence. Reed turned slightly to Connor. The fleeting shadow of a regret passed over his scarred face.

" Too few... "

Then, without a word, with a weavy look, he left the main room to rejoin Rupert. Connor wasn't in his place in those moments, full with tender secrets and mute and unspeakable suffering. Humans don't like androids, right? You must have a heart to love. Both species were now devoid of hearts. Yet in the adjoining room, the night was going to be difficult and laden with unachievable promises and heartbreaking negotiations with a bitter farewell taste. There would be whispered words, poignant silences, and burning hugs that unmilled tears would inevitably extinguish. And the intensely luminous palm of a plastic hand would touch her flesh and blood twin, one last time.

Connor sighed and leaned his head on the frozen window of the apartment too big for his immense loneliness. Outside, the night would dissipate soon. What he didn't know, it was that the new day would lead a white ghost to follow the gray shadow of a man with a disillusioned smile. On a vacant lot near a building under construction, words would be exchanged in the biggest secrets between an informer and a shape draped in a sinister raincoat. Fine fingers of pianists would come to play with a task of blue blood invisible to the naked eye, but that his artificial eyes would see shine like a sad little starry constellation on the rubble. Slowly, they would bring the shiny substance to lips too perfect to be real. The disturbing specter would turn coldly towards his master.

"The RK800 was here. There is still some thirium on the ground, but no enouth to follow the trail. There was an altercation. I can detect some traces of human blood, but the sample is too small to attempt an analysis. "

In front of the dying stars of that pale morning still shy, Perkins would show a satisfied air. They were approaching. They would hold it soon.

"I already told your guy when he questioned me. The two cops fought with the kid who was hanging around building A. He looked like a fool, that guy, he came warming up with us sometimes, but he never boozed, he wasn't talking. The other day, a guy tried to steal his jacket. He returned him to like nothing. Same for the guy who was trying to pull his blanket... With his temper, we left him alone. But one day, a new guy wanted to paw him, to warm up a little. It was pretty good, that kid, many would have tried if he wasn't so weird. Loneliness, you know, it gives crooked ideas, sometimes ... We even said him to try to do the sidewalks, with his angel's mouth, he could have done rather well. He didn't seem to appreciate. But the guy who tried to touch him ... he killed him, like that, in two blows, without flinching! Phew! Even if the other was much taller and sturdy. Tommy was scared, he shouldn't have done that, but he called the cops, and they came. But we didn't dare to speak. Not as long as they had not arrested him, understand, he's crazy this guy! His eyes, he has sick eyes! But the police didn't stay long. A murder of tramps, it interests them only for the paperwork. I thought they had find him ... I saw them fight, and the others policemen came in backup. Then I left, I didn't want more trouble. I didn't want he saw me. And then after ... I don't know, after. But we avoid hanging around him. We never know, he always looked so enraged. "

Perkins would interrupted the speech of the old tramp by handing him a five-dollar bill.

"It's good, go buy yourself a drink, it's forb me today I'm in a good mood. 900? look for the cameras in the area. Anderson went home alone yesterday, and Connor couldn't have left the field without one of the policemen watching the crime scene noticing him. They have an accomplice, and to pass the roadblocks around the construction, it's necessarily a cop ... We can't question the police station, they are in solidarity with each other, like fucking cockroaches, especially against the FBI. Anderson and his guy would be informed in the minute we entered their offices. We'll have to be smarter than them ... "

The sun would finally rise from its overwhelming glow on Detroit. For once, it would be nice ... and in the dawn, Perkins would smile.

But Connor still didn't know all of this. His eyes looked for the stars masked by the clouds and the lights of the city. He was trying to forget that one night, he had seen them more clearly than any other night of his short life. One night, their soft light had something like funeral candle accents.

* * *

Thank you for taking the time to read this chapter, and feel free to comment to tell me what you think! I had less time to translate than usual, so I hope there are not too many mistakes. Don't hesitate to tell me also if it's worth it that I translate others of my fics or not!

See you soon !


	6. Cain'eye

**Disclaimer:** the characters are the exclusive property of Quantic dream and come from the video game detroit become human.

* * *

 **Caïn's eye**

The metal plate and revolver ran aground on the desk in a thud. Although the police station seemed to plunge into its usual routine, the heavy silence that seemed to have fallen on the open space showed obviously how much all this agitation was a pure masquerade. In fact, if the eyes not dared turn to the glass desk at the back of the room, all the ears were quietly focused on what was going on here. And it didn't feel good at all, judging by the agonizing silence of the two men standing face to face in the police captain's glass cage. Jeffrey was the first to break the silence in a firm voice, pointing to the badge and weapon he had just thrown at Hank.

"This plate and this revolver, you'll never see them again, Hank. It's over. You'll go to disciplinary board in the end of the month. In the meantime, I have been asked to suspend you so that you don't do more damage. I warned you, I told you I don't know how many times ... But of course, you didn't listen to me, right? It had to happen. That all you are abole to understand anyway, kicks in your bigass and slaps in your face. Congratulations, you have just burrowed you a bit more. But this time, Anderson, I will not save you. I'm tired of your bullshit. "

Calmly, the former police lieutenant shook his head thoughtfully. Contrary to what Jeffrey feared, he didn't scream. Inversly, for the first time in months, the old man seemed strangely serene and sober. , doubtfully, Jeffrey raised an eyebrow before venturing:

"You have nothing to say for your defense? "

Hank got up from his chair and pushed it back calmly, before leaning on it. Then, in a conciliatory voice, he contented himself with throwing him:

"What do you want me to say to you? Reed is a nasty bastard, and you obviously prefer to work with a pretentious and upstart jerk rather than with an experienced and over-stubborn cop. Have fun with this brat! I'm tired of all these shits. I have seen too much things in this life, Jeffrey. It's better like that. "

He didn't really like it ... oh no, the tone his old friend used didn't please him at all. His words sounded defeated, his face betrayed too many fights, and too many defeats. That lassitude he saw in those eyes reminded him of a time when, just after Cole's death, he had spent a whole evening talking to him in the locker room, hoping that he would put down his service gun that he was pointing at his temple. A drop of cold sweat slid down his back.

"Hank, listen ... maybe I can try one last time ..."

Hank's annoyed voice interrupted him:

"It's not worth Jeffrey. I'm fed up. I'm really sick of it. There's nothing that keeps me here again. Strictly nothing. Don't bother yourself any more. Thank you for everything, kisses to your wife and your kids... "

Jeffrey got up. He wanted to hold that bastard again. He would have liked to have the strength to give him an umpteenth second chance. But he couldn't do it, he could not! The lieutenant's actions had finally reached the ears of the highest authorities, especially since his altercation with this FBI agent, Perkins. He had fought like a lion to keep him his place in the police station after that ... but Reed's aggression was the last straw that had broken the camel'back. And Jeffrey still had children to protect. His older would get married next summer, and he was going to be grandfather in a few months. He couldn't afford to sacrifice his career now. Not for Hank. Not for a desperate cause, as touching as it is. He had been frustrated too many times to believe in him. So he just watched him leave the office, without a word. Then he let himself fall back into his chair, one hand on his forehead, as he stared at the orphaned metal plate and service weapon. His eyes burned him strangely ... shit ! Go to hell, Hank! He couldn't do anything for him. Nobody couldn't do anything for him now.

While Jeffrey was trying to part with his guilty feeling by stabbing his pile of files, Hank went to his office to collect his belongings. Without paying any attention to the curious glances, he began to remove his stuff from this workstation that had been his for years. But oddly, he felt no pain. What worried him the most was that he had no news about Connor for more than 24 hours. His gaze fell on Gavin. The young inspector's careless and almost provocative laught was one of the few things that break the respectful silence of this special morning. For a fraction of a second, their eyes met. And with a tiny nod, barely perceptible, Gavin invited Hank to join him in a quieter place. Then, he finished his cup of coffee before disappearing quietly to the toilet of the police station, undergoing maintenance. Hank quietly continued to pack up his things for a while, trying to keep a calm attitude despite the anguish that was crushing his chest and shaking his hands. After a few minutes he went to the door where Gavin had disappeared. No sooner had he passed it than the youngest threw a backpack into his arms before tolding him coldly:

"Change your clothes, grandpa. I'm sure they tail you like a tick on an old pet. As soon as you get out of here, you take the old gray Ford parked two blocks behind, next to the Donuts store. There is a surprise for you in the trunk and a package to deliver in addition. They already know everything there's to know. They'll explain you the rest on the road. So move !"

But Hank didn't move. He stared at Reed, his eyes mingling with apprehension and hope.

"Reed, you know for ..."

The young policeman sighed wearily and impatiently. He kept waddling from one foot to the other, nervous that someone would surprise them or that the new android of maintenance finish his cleaning and leave the place. For a moment, his eyes fell on the plastic manikin. He seemed so rigid, so false that it made him shudder. A perfect automaton dedicated to his task, and nothing else. So different from Rupert and Connor that they didn't even seem to belong to the same species anymore. This android was a part of this news robots whose would never be deviants. The latest toys of Cyberlife. They had succeeded.

"I'm fine, Hank, I'm fine! You'll get your junk again. Just do what I tell you, if you want it to work. And after that, get out of my life, all of you ... "

There were accents of regret and sadness in Reed's usually insolent voice, but Anderson didn't notice that. He opened the bag. It contained a black jacket, a light blue shirt and a faded jeans. The old man winced at the horrible outfit. Then he began to unbutton his shirt, before Gavin's voice stopped him as he looked away, visibly disgusted:

"Oh, let me go out before you undress! I don't want to have nightmares. I Hope you didn't drink at least? It would be stupid to have you arrested for driving while you are drunk ... "

Hank glared at the young inspector.

"I'm not stupid, Reed. I didn't drink anything ok? "

Gavin glanced at him, as if trying to devalue the accuracy of these words, then, with a mocking smile, he threw him in a provoking tone:

"Well, maybe it's true. Finally, I don't care, as long as you drive straight ... there is also a razor, a cap and a chisel in the bag. Do what you need but get rid of this tramp's head. They don't have to recognize you .. I go back before they notice my absence. Hoping I don't have to see the dirty faces of you and your fucking android again. "

Hank pulled out the different things of the bag as Reed put his hand on the handle. But as the young policeman was about to leave, he couldn't help but ask him:

"Why are you doing all this? "

The young man raised his head. Then, in an evasive voice, he simply replied:

"I have my reasons, and you'll know them soon enough. Hurry, Mr. Clean has almost finished his job. "

Hank smiled discreetly at the young wolf. He had never smiled at Gavin before. Never. They could not wear each other from the beginning. It had been necessary for the world to be on the verge of collapse, for the machines to turn against their masters, and for humanity to finally reveal its true face so that they could learn to understand each other. They weren't so different, basically.

"Reed? … Thank you. "

The policeman opened the door. He shook his head sadly, before whispering with a strange sincerity:

" Good luck... "

And the door closed. No sooner had It slammed than the old policeman was busy. He began by taking off his clothes to put on the new outfit chosen by Reed. Then he positioned himself in front of the mirror. And for the first time in years, he became fully conscious of his physical decay. His face, drawn by the nights of drinking and playing Russian roulette, had soaked up wrinkles as old scars that psychological wounds had left on his skin. His hair, once peppered and salt, had bleached because of his age and his memories, and had become rebellious. Their insolent length and wild indiscipline made him look like a shaggy bear barely out of hibernation. And his beard in battle didn't help that unflattering portrait. He sighed. Then, armed with a new resolution, he grabbed the razor and began cutting the unruly hairs on his face. In the silvery reflection, he saw the maintenance android start cleaning the last toilet compartment. He had to hurry. The scissors came alive right after the razor, taking off part of the length of his hair, the rest being trapped in an awkward ponytail. Then he positioned the cap on his head. Thus clothed and undone by this appearance, which years and pain had inflicted on him, he was almost unrecognizable. He grabbed the bag and hid it under one of the plates that covered the false ceiling. Then he left the police station's toilet, head down.

In the morning bustle of the police station, no one paid attention to this stranger who crossed the room. Witness to an investigation, suspect released, staff of the administrative department of the floor, basically, it didn't matter: it was difficult to enter this anthill without permission, but once in the heart of the building, getting out was otherwise easier. Without a glance at the fast-huddled business that summed up many years of his life, he crossed the security gate before crossing the hall and back to the street. He knew he wouldn't come back. He had understood this from the moment his eyes landed on the android to the eternally red light: he could never have recovered from the death of this imaginary son, and he couldn't save him in the enclosure of this city plagued by hatred and fear. This day could only end in two ways: by his death, or by a new beginning. So, he had entrusted Sumo to the neighbor for "a few days," and he had left his house full of memories the same way he had abandoned that desk and chair where he had spent so many years of his life: with a determined step and tight heart. It was the end of Hank Anderson's story. Now he only had to live to allow a small red diode to shine a little longer. It was the only thing that mattered, the rest ... the rest of his life was crappy. Connor was his last stand.

He passed an old white van parked a few meters from the entrance to the police station, just in front of the parking reserved for police officers. And he went to the alley where the old Ford was parked.

An hour and a half later, it was Perkins' turn to get close to the same van, the strange white ghost still on his feet, like a docile and discreet shadow that only coming to life when the situation required it. He patted at the back door of the van. Someone opened. Inside, two divided screens relayed continuously images of videos from surveillance cameras in the city around the police station. Perkins approached one of the screens and examined it carefully.

"Anderson's news? "

The agent Tyrell turned to his superior. He was a promising young recruit, but a little too enthusiastic and talkative, though very physiognomic, which meant that he was more often assigned to covert surveillance than to investigating with witnesses. Beside him, the computer expert, the Agent Faders, contrasted with his more advanced age and his more relaxed attitude. The experience of years of investigation had given him dark circles under the eyes and the habit of constantly chewing on a matchstick, as if to relieve the stress in grinding the poor piece of wood. He had worked for years with Perkins in his beginning, but he soon turned himself to hacking and remote surveillance rather than human corpses and shootings.

"He arrived this morning around 10:45, I think ... He had an appointment at 9:30 with Fowler for his layoff. I bet he wouldn't come with Faders but I lost! This story cost me $ 10... "

Perkins sighed. He would have given anything so as not to bear the young recruit. His glare, however, is enough to silence his digressions. If he wanted to join the field one day, he had to learn to temper his character ...

"He's preparing something, that's for sure. The team watching over his house warned us that he left his dog to his neightbourg this morning. But you probably know that already ... Since we didn't see him again. "

Perkins frowned, which prompted 900. The android approached the images of surveillance cameras. Instinctively, Tyrell pulled back his chair in a mistrust. Since the revolt, he didn't really like these things. Especially when these things had the same face that one of the leaders of the revolution and measured one more head than him.

"He didn't come out? Since 10:45 this morning? After a layoff? "

Tyrell shrugged:

"No, we would have seen it. The interview may have been longer than expected, where he is busy saying goodbye to his former colleagues. He had been working there for a long time ... "

Perkins wanted to plant his fist in the boy's face. Oh yes, the kid was promising, but he was as silly as a broom without its stick!

"Because you'll plan to party with your colleagues when I fired you? You can start preparing your starting pot then. "

Faders calmly spoke to delay the tension that was building up in his former teammate:

"The problem isn't the time spent in the police station, Richard. The big problem is that Lieutenant Anderson is the type of guy who only think of himself. I have been on his spinning business for months, and I can assure you that he has his little habits. He buys his donuts always at the same place every Tuesday, he goes to the bars after work, he takes out his dog every night at the stroke of eleven o'clock ... and he goes out to eat every day at 12.30 pm. Set like a clock! He seems upset when he has to shift his meal by ten minutes. For the moment, he still hasn't gone out to eat. That's why we called you ... it smells bad for the dog bisness too. I don't feel it, Richard. We need your permission to intervene ... We still don't know who is his accomplice, "

" Shit ! "

Perkins let out his anger. Entering the police station could be very dangerous. If Anderson was still inside and he saw him, he would change his plans, and the little strategic lead that the surprise would give them would disappear immediately. If he thought the old policeman knew he was being followed, he certainly didn't know how close they were to him and especially to his precious partner. But on the one hand, if Hank had actually escaped their surveillance and fled, every minute he took against them would drastically reduce their chance of arrest the RK800.

"I can watch the videos, if you like, Agent Perkins. "

The RK900's voice had risen calmly, as it was impervious to the tension and stakes of what was going on in this truck. Tyrell chuckled:

"Because you think you can spot a suspect better than me? Do you want to take my job C3P0? "

The android leaned his head to the side, not offended by the mocking tone of the human. He contented himself with answering calmly:

"I have very advanced, easy-to-recognize software based on 67 identifiable points on faces and human skeleton. I'm not questioning your skills, but I think my system can effectively assist you in determining if Hank Anderson has left or no the police station. "

It was Faders' turn to intervene:

"If we wait more than an hour and a half for you to see all the recordings, Anderson will have taken enough time to get lost. "

The rk 900 advanced to the videos while watching Perkins. It was his authorization he was waiting for, not that of the two other officers of much lower rank.

"I can reliably operate my recognition system even if you accelerate the video at a speed of twenty-six. This is our best chance to evaluate which approach to choose before entering the police station. I will just ask you not soliciting me during the operation, so that I can dedicate all my resources to the process. "

Perkins looked at 900 for a moment. There was something cold and almost terrifying about the machine's behaviour. One day, the world would be populated only by machines, their incredible physical, intellectual or sexual performances would lead humans to their own annihilation in laziness and pleasures. But for now, as scary as the last prototype of Cyberlife was, he had already demonstrated its formidable effectiveness in tracking down its predecessor. With a nod, Perkins accepted, and, without further formalities, 900 put a white hand on the video recorder as his fingers lit up with the strange blue glow so dear to the multinational. The video went back in time at a crazy speed, making the walkers dancing at a frantic rythm that human eyes struggled to follow unlike those of the machine. Suddenly, the movie stopped. The video resumed more slowly before settling on an image. The RK removed his hand and put a finger now tinged with false flesh on the shiny screen.

"Here, Agent Perkins. Hank Anderson left the police station at 11:20, exactly one hour and forty-three minutes ago. "

The three agents leaned over the video to take a closer look at the man the android pointed out to them. Perkins narrowed his eyes, as if this simple gesture could help him improve the man's fallible view face to the implacable accuracy of android sensors.

"Are you sure, 900? "

The android nodded energetically. Perkins still doubted, finding that the poor quality of the image and the lowered look of the designated man could be misleading. It's true that he was a bit the same size as Anderson, but it was hard to identify him as clearly ... but the voice of Tyrell finishes to remove all his doubts:

"Shit ! ... I think the protocol droid is right. That's Anderson ... But where he found these clothes and all that things? He had neither bag nor anything suspicious when he came in ... "

Perkins sat up. Tyrell may have been a jerk, but he was good in his field of activity. And considering Anderson's disguise, he couldn't blame him. Already, the computer expert tapped on his keyboard to try to follow the path of the fugitive on the various surveillance cameras. But obviously, the thing wasn't easy.

"Damn! He went through blind spots and made detours crossing buildings and private parking lots. He tries to sow us, this bastard! I search with the cameras of the district, but to recreate his way could take a good hour, perhaps more ... I put myself in it immediately .. »

An hour ... The lieutenant has already more than an hour and a half in advance. He had no time to lose. He suspected he wanted to cross the border with his damn Android, or prepare a dirty trick ... every minute he gave him was a win for Anderson and a defeat for him. He placed his headset on his head before ordering:

"900, come with me, we come in. We must find his accomplice to know where he went. You two, stay in touch and get ready. Keep seeing what you can do with the cameras, in case we don't find anything inside. Don't intervene, we don't have any mandate, so we must refrain from making waves, especially in a police station. However, I would surely need a computer support. I want to know where Anderson left. "

Then, without losing another minute, he got out of the van and headed for the police station.

* * *

Thank you for reading me and for your patience between two translations. I hope there weren't too much mistakes, and I'll see you soon for the next chapter! don't hesitate to tell me if you like or not, or what I need to improve.


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